Just the Way You Are
by Azu Luna
Summary: Sheen overhears Libby saying that she'd like him better if he wasn't so weird, so he asks Jimmy to alter his personality. Be careful what you wish for, Libby, you just might get it! Sheen/Libby, Jimmy/Cindy.
1. World Wonder

Hey everybody, Azu here. This is a re-vamping of my story "Just the Way You Are" that I started way back in 2004. I've decided to finally pick up where I left off and finish this thing once and for all…after giving it a little makeover, of course. So without further ado, here we go.

Disclaimer: Jimmy Neutron belongs to Nickelodeon, not me.

Just the Way You Are

The Great Wall of China. The pyramids of Giza. Libby Folfax. These things don't seem to have much in common, but according to Sheen Estevez, they are all breathtaking world wonders. He now sat with his two best friends, Jimmy Neutron and Carl Wheezer, in a booth at the Candy Bar, the local ice cream parlor. Glancing around the place for what seemed like the millionth time, Sheen exhaled softly and turned back to his friends.

"You okay, Sheen?" Jimmy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" Sheen quickly snapped out of his reverie and pasted a fake smile on his face. "Oh yeah, I'm fine, just trying to pick a sundae. _No problemo_."

Anyone who knew Sheen well enough knew that he was a terrible liar. He never looked you straight in the eyes and had a habit of twisting his fingers while he talked. Jimmy sighed and patted Sheen's shoulder comfortingly.

"Don't worry, Sheen. I'm sure she'll be here soon. You know the girls always come to the Candy Bar on Saturday afternoons."

A light blush colored Sheen's cheeks as he opened his mouth to deny what he was thinking, but figured it was pointless when he saw his friends' knowing expressions. _Man! How do they always know when I'm lying?! _Sheen thought._ Maybe Jimmy and Carl have mind-reading abilities like the villains in Ultralord Episode #896: "Attack of the Space Weasels from Drenthax 5"... _

"Okay." Sheen shook his head and smiled a real smile this time. Forcing his attention back to the menu, he made himself forget about Jimmy and Carl's "mind-reading space powers"...for the moment.

"All right then. Now hurry up and decide what you want, so we can order!" said Jimmy playfully.

"Yeah, I'm hungry!" Carl exclaimed, his stomach growling to further prove his point.

Sheen chuckled softly without taking his eyes off the laminated paper, but doubt lingered in the back of his mind. Truth be told, his crush on Libby began the first day he met her, and one of the best days of his young life had happened back in February, when Jimmy was working on an experimental anti-girl serum. He planned to use it to prevent himself, Sheen, and Carl from ever having to deal with girls, fall in love, or any general "mushy stuff", as Carl had so eloquently put it.

As everyone now knew, the boys had been accidentally exposed to the serum, which was still in its pheromone state at the time, causing them to instantly fall in love with the first female they saw. Of course, the potion would only work if the contaminated subjects already had an initial attraction toward the females in question. Jimmy had conveniently left out this little detail, mostly because he was afraid to own up to his not-so-secret feelings for Cindy. Taking into consideration that life is never fair when one wants it to be, all three boys just happened to see and fall in love with the girls they each liked: Jimmy for Cindy, Sheen for Libby, and, disturbingly enough, Carl for Mrs. Neutron.

Honestly, Sheen didn't feel different after being contaminated. He just felt a stronger attraction to Libby than before and a boost of courage that he didn't know he possessed. What truly puzzled him, even now, was the fact that Libby actually agreed to go out with him on Valentine's Day. During the whole ordeal, Sheen kept wondering if she was doing it because she liked him the same way, or if it was all out of pity. The potion had been fogging his brain at the time, so he was just happy to be in Libby's company. He showed his affection by presenting her with a crown, a throne made of action figure boxes, and a handmade card questioning if she would be his Valentine. Naturally, Sheen was shocked speechless when she said yes.

The one thing that frustrated Sheen more than anything else was the only action that he couldn't explain or reason away. After their very short bo staff fight (and after he'd promised to calm down), Libby had thanked him for the card, placed her hand on the side of his face, and...kissed him. Granted, it was on the cheek, but still she had actually _kissed_ him! Willingly! Sheen had been so ecstatic that he couldn't help but perform the absurd Dance of Wooing ritual he'd seen on Ultralord Episode #921.

Now that the incident was over and things had returned to normal, Libby seemed to be sending him mixed signals. One minute she was laughing at one of Cindy's usual insults, and the next minute she was gazing at him quietly and blushing if he happened to catch her. Needless to say, poor Sheen was thoroughly confused about the whole situation. He continued pondering the state of things in the back of his mind while deciding what sugar-laden Candy Bar treat he was going to stuff in his face.

_Well, I can't be expected to debate over whether or not Libby likes me on an empty stomach, right?_ Sheen thought diplomatically, finally choosing a Fudge Ripple Gut Buster.

After scanning the place one last time when Jimmy and Carl were preoccupied, Sheen resolved to try to forget about his worries for a little while. He leaned his head back against the cushion of the booth and closed his eyes, allowing his mind to wander.

* * *

Sheen wasn't exactly sure how long he'd been in a semi-conscious state, but the next thing he knew, someone was nudging his shoulder in an effort to wake him up.

"Ugh...what happened?" he murmured before cracking one eye open to see who was interrupting his lovely daydream about Libby. He could just make out a pair of chocolate brown eyes gazing at him as a soft, feminine voice rang through his ears.

"Sheen? Hey, Sheen, wake up! Your ice cream is melting!" the voice said.

Sheen's brain finally kicked into gear and his eyes snapped open to come face-to-face with none other than Libby herself.

* * *

Much love to Tygrressatheart, my best buddy and beta reader. Reviews are always appreciated.


	2. Eavesdropping

Still in shock from seeing the object of his daydream standing before him, Sheen was reduced to staring at Libby with his mouth slightly open.

"Sheen, did you hear me? I said your ice cream is melting."

"Huh? Oh…" Sheen tore his eyes away from her pretty face momentarily to note that his Fudge Ripple Gut Buster was indeed turning into Fudge Ripple soup.

"Come on, Libby, let's go get a booth! We're wasting our time here with Nerdtron and his dorky friends," Cindy said briskly.

"Well _excuse_ us for taking up your precious time, Vortex! Why the heck did you even come over here anyway?" Jimmy retorted, blue eyes flashing.

"Because..." Cindy thought quickly. "Because...Libby wanted to ask you about the English homework Miss Fowl gave us yesterday?" she stated, even though it sounded more like a question.

Libby gave her a sharp look before turning to face the brown-haired boy. "Yeah...uh, Jimmy, did Miss Fowl say that our poems have to rhyme or can they be free verse?" she asked smoothly.

"She said that it can be any kind of poem, rhyming or free verse, as long as it 'comes from the heart' and is at least three stanzas long," he replied. "Was there anything else? I'd like to get back to my sundae now, if you're done interrupting us."

Jimmy said this a bit harsher than he meant to, and the hurt expression on Cindy's face was more than enough to make him feel guilty.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just hungry and I want to finish before my ice cream starts to look like Sheen's, that's all," he said with an apologetic look.

"Whatever, Neutron." Cindy rolled her eyes, but the small smile tugging at her lips signaled to Jimmy that all was forgiven. He grinned in return, causing the blonde to fight down a blush and stare at the suddenly interesting napkin holder. "Come on, Libby, let's get a booth before all the good ones are taken," she mumbled without looking up.

With that, she walked to a booth three spots over from where the boys were and sat down, facing Jimmy of course. Libby shook her head at her best friend's behavior, but giggled as she noticed Sheen staring at her again.

"I guess I'll see you guys later then," she said with a friendly smile. "Oh, and Sheen?"

"Yeah?"

Libby leaned very close to his face, smirking when she saw his brown eyes widen at her proximity. She loved doing this, if only to see his reaction. The fact that she got to be close to him every time was an added bonus, even though she'd never admit it out loud.

"You might want to try to save what's left of your sundae," she whispered softly before straightening up, giving Sheen a wink, and strolling over to where Cindy was waiting.

Sheen blinked rapidly as he watched her go. "Man, I _hate_ it when she does that!" he said, turning back to his friends with a frustrated look on his face.

Jimmy and Carl exchanged knowing looks again before going back to their ice cream. Sheen obviously enjoyed it whenever Libby flirted with him even though he denied it every time. The problem was that everyone in town knew how Sheen felt about her, but no one could seem to figure out whether or not Libby felt the same way.

* * *

"Ugh, who'd have thought a sundae could have so many marshmallows in it?" Carl asked ten minutes later, thoroughly stuffed. "I think I'm gonna explode."

"Well, it _is_ called a 'Triple-Decker Marshmallow Blast' for a reason, Carl," Jimmy stated, grinning.

"Yeah, and make sure you explode _that_ way, okay?" said Sheen, while pointing toward the door. "We don't want to get kicked out like last time." He said this last part with a slight grimace, remembering how mad Sam had been when he and Carl had the "brilliant" idea of making a model replica of the Eiffel Tower out of ice cream, chocolate sauce and empty plastic cups. It had taken them hours to clean up the mess, and Sam had banned them from the Candy Bar for a whole month.

After chatting for a while about the new Space Mutants video game coming out next month, the three boys decided to head out and catch a matinee showing of "_Godzilla vs. King Kong IV_". However, fate seemed to have other plans, for at that exact moment, a quarter fell out of Sheen's pocket and rolled on its edge in the opposite direction of the door.

"My quarter! You guys go on ahead, I'll be back in a sec," he said, eyes focused on which booth the coin had rolled under.

Sheen jogged over and bent down to look under the table. "There you are," he whispered, but frowned after unsuccessfully stretching his arm toward it. "Man, I can't...ugh...get to it! Guess I'll have to crawl under there..."

This task was easier said than done. Sheen was tall for his age, so it took a few moments for him to contort his lanky body under the circular booth seat and grab the coin. He was about to stand up again when he heard two voices talking in the booth next to him. Not the eavesdropping type, Sheen would've normally ignored them and walked away. He would have, that is, if he hadn't heard his name mentioned just then.

"_Sheen?!_ Come on, Libby, how can you possibly like him? He's a hyperactive annoying dweeb, not to mention the fact that he's one of _Neutron's_ friends!" Cindy argued, accentuating Jimmy's last name with what she hoped sounded like disgust.

"Look, girl, I don't know why I like him, but I just do! He's sweet, he's funny, and he is _not_ annoying!" Libby shot back defensively.

A warm feeling blossomed in Sheen's chest, making him grin as he thought of Libby's words. _She likes me? As in LIKE-likes me?! This is awesome! I can't wait to tell the guys! Now I can finally ask her—  
_  
Unfortunately, his excitement was cut short by Libby's next statement.

"It's just...he's so weird sometimes! I mean, he's really unique and stuff, which is what I like about him...but I guess he can be pretty immature and way too hyper." She sighed. "I just wish he wouldn't be so _Sheen-ish_ all the time, you know what I mean? I'd like him a lot better if he was normal for a change."

"That's exactly what I'm trying to say! And that's why you shouldn't even bother with someone like Sheen. He'll just embarrass you in public and drive you crazy while he blabs on about Ultralord 24/7. Come on, Libby, don't you think it would be in everyone's best interest if you two just stayed casual friends?" Cindy questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Sheen's eyes glazed over as the lump in his throat grew, but he forced himself to listen to Libby's answer.

"...Maybe." she said quietly.

That was all he needed to hear. Libby had broken Sheen's heart with one simple word. _So that's all I am to her—weird, immature and hyper. I thought she...well, I guess it doesn't really matter what I thought. She already said she doesn't like me the way I am._ This depressing thought filled the boy's mind as he stealthily made his way to the exit without either of the girls noticing.

Stepping outside, the sun's rays didn't seem nearly as cheerful anymore. Sheen ran his fingers through his spiky hair a few times before noticing that Jimmy and Carl were standing next to him.

"Oh. Hey…" he mumbled, not bothering to hide his unhappiness.

"Sheen, what took you so long in there? We've been waiting forever and—" Carl started, but was cut off by Jimmy, who turned back to the taller boy with a concerned look.

"Calm down, Carl! What's wrong, Sheen?"

"Nothing. Listen, I'm just gonna head on home, okay? I'm not really feeling too good all of a sudden…must have been the sundae."

Jimmy and Carl exchanged another glance. Sheen had barely touched his sundae, but they decided not to press the matter for now.

"Um, okay then. Feel better, Sheen." said Carl, slight confusion written on his face.

"Yeah, it's cool. Go on home and get some rest. I guess we'll see you later then?" Jimmy questioned uncertainly.

"Yeah. Bye, guys."

"Bye…" they chorused, watching him walk away.

* * *

The setting sun found Sheen in the park. He didn't feel like going home yet, but going to the movies with Jimmy and Carl would have been a complete waste of time. He'd never be able to focus on the screen while the words _'I'd like him a lot better if he was normal for a change'_ echoed inside his head.

"I wonder what she's doing right now..." he whispered aloud, before sitting down on the cool grass and resting his head against the trunk of a giant oak tree. He exhaled through his nose and wiped furiously at his eyes, refusing to let the tears fall.

After a few more minutes of wallowing in self-pity, Sheen had had enough. He couldn't go on beating himself up like this forever, so he decided to assess the situation.

"Okay. On the one hand, I care about Libby a lot—a whole lot, which means I'd do just about anything for her. On the other hand, is it really enough to give up being myself?"

The troubled preteen stared at the orange-painted sky for what seemed like forever before coming to his decision. "I want Libby to be happy with me, even if it's not the _real_ me, so I guess there's only one thing left to do."

With a newfound determination, Sheen stood up and broke into a fast jog, headed for Jimmy's house.

_If normal is what Libby wants, then it's normal she's gonna get..._

_

* * *

_Much love to Tygrressatheart, my best buddy and beta reader. Reviews are always appreciated.


	3. Your Wish is My Command

The sound of his own rapidly beating heart drummed loudly in Sheen's ears, blocking out all other noise. He vaguely remembered his destination amidst the torrent of thoughts spiraling inside of him.

_Jimmy's house. I gotta get to Jimmy's house. _Sheen continued to think as he raced against the sun setting over the quiet suburban neighborhood. Two blocks, a right turn, another three blocks, and a fence jump later, he collapsed on the welcome mat in front of Jimmy's backyard clubhouse, which doubled as the entrance to his underground laboratory.

He breathed the crisp evening air in large gulps to calm his heart rate back down to normal.

_Normal._

The black-haired boy clenched his fists involuntarily. He hated that word with a passion. Normal was ordinary. Normal was boring. Normal was eating an Atomic Choco Blast one bite at a time and actually using a _spoon_ instead of your face!

Sheen took pride in always being himself, the very antithesis of normal. He liked being unique and one-of-a-kind almost as much as he liked Libby, which was definitely saying something. A part of him just wanted to go home, forget everything he'd heard, and stubbornly continue his "Sheen-ish" lifestyle, whatever _that_ was.

That logical and self-preserving part was, of course, overruled by his feelings. There was no _way _he was leaving now, especially when there was a chance that he could make Libby happy and possibly even make her want to be his girlfriend. If anyone had the resources to help him, it was Jimmy.

"See ya later, Carl!" Jimmy's voice rang out as he walked around the side of his house headed for the lab.

_Speak of the devil. _Sheen thought. _Better get this over with before I decide to chicken out..._

He stood up quickly, brushing the dirt off the back of his jeans while waiting for his friend to notice him. Jimmy was slightly taken aback at seeing Sheen outside of his lab entrance, thinking he'd gone home after deciding not to go to the movies a few hours ago.

"Sheen? What's up?"

"Hey, Jimmy. Nothing much...just, y'know, wanted to see how you're doing." Sheen twisted his fingers absentmindedly and fixed his gaze at a point about six inches to the left of Jimmy's head.

The young genius sighed. It was almost funny that Sheen never realized he was one of the worst liars in town. "Sheen..."

"What?"

"Stop it. What's wrong?"

Sheen closed his eyes. _Man, he's good... _he thought before taking a deep breath.

"Remember when we were leaving the Candy Bar and I accidentally dropped a quarter and said I'd catch up with you guys?"

Jimmy frowned slightly. "Yeah?"

"Well, it rolled under a booth and I had to crawl underneath to pick it up, but then I heard voices and—"

"Sheen?"

"Yeah?"

"You _always _hear voices." Jimmy smirked.

"No, not the voices in my head! I meant _other _voices!" said Sheen, crossing his arms over his chest indignantly.

"Okay, okay, continue."

"_Anyway_, the voices I heard turned out to be Cindy's and Libby's. They were talking about...me."

"What were they talking about you for?"

Sheen sighed again. "Well, the general idea is that Libby seems to like me the same way I like her. Cindy asked her why, but Libby said she didn't know. Then she called me weird and said that she'd like me a lot better if I was _normal_ for a change."

Jimmy's eyes widened a bit. "Ouch."

"Yeah...and that's where you come in." said Sheen resolutely.

"I don't understand."

"Can we go inside the lab or something? I'd rather not talk any more about this outside if that's okay."

"Sure, no problem." Jimmy said, looking around shiftily for a moment to ensure that no one was watching them. He stepped onto the welcome mat, plucked a hair from his head, and held it up to the DNA scanner built into the side panel of the clubhouse door.

* * *

"_DNA match confirmed. Welcome, Jimmy Neutron..._" VOX's computerized voice announced seconds later.

The doormat dropped out from beneath the two boys and they were dumped unceremoniously onto the laboratory floor after zooming feet-first down a long twisting chute. Luckily for them, Jimmy had remembered to leave the mattress under the entrance hole this time.

"Okay," said Jimmy after they had both dusted themselves off and sat down near VOX's main display screen. "What exactly did you mean by 'that's where you come in'?"

Sheen lowered his eyes and kicked at the leg of his chair. "I just...I don't know, I wanna make Libby happy. That means changing who I am, and that's why I came to you. You're the only one I know who's got the tools and smarts and techno-whatevers to change me."

"Let me get this straight. You want me to...alter your personality?" said Jimmy disbelievingly.

"I wouldn't have come if I didn't think you could do it, or if you weren't gonna help me. You'll do it, right, Jimmy?" Sheen implored, getting ready to use his patented puppy dog pout if necessary.

"I don't know about this, Sheen. I'm not exactly sure how long the effects will last, and who knows if it'll even work properly?"

"Come on, please?"

"You know the puppy dog pout only works on Libby, so don't even try it." Jimmy smirked.

Sheen snapped his fingers. "Darn, I thought I had you there."

"All right, Sheen, you know I'm your friend. I'll back you up no matter what, but do you _really_ want to do this?" questioned Jimmy, still trying to talk him out of the whole thing.

Sheen's brow furrowed for a moment before he nodded. "Yeah."

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. "You really like her, don't you?"

The other boy stared back with a somber expression on his face. "More than Ultralord."

"Whoa." This was serious if Sheen was admitting that there was something (or someone) he liked even better than Ultralord himself. "Okay then. If you're absolutely sure, I need you to stand over there. I'll modify the Neutronic De-Dorkenator and bring it over." The young inventor pointed to an open area of the lab about ten feet away.

Sheen did as he was told, but an unnerving thought came to him after a few minutes of waiting. "Hey, it's not gonna hurt or anything, is it?"

Jimmy turned away from his adjustments and grinned wickedly. "Sheen, you're supposed to be a man! You can't take a little 20-minute session of writhing on the floor in unspeakable agony?"

Sheen's eyes widened in horror.

"Aw, calm down, I was just kidding...you won't feel a thing, I promise." Jimmy snickered as he tinkered further with his creation.

"Don't do that! You _know_ I'm sensitive to unspeakable agony!" Sheen pouted.

"All right, here we go," said Jimmy, walking over to where his friend stood. He carried what looked like a tuning fork with Christmas lights in his left hand.

"What the heck is that thing?"

"This is the Personality Alterna-tron 3000, which is basically a modified version of my Neutronic De-Dorkenator. All I have to do is program the personality traits you want into it, and bring it in close contact with your brain. I should probably expose the device to your beta brain waves too, since cognition is partially responsible for personality development. If all goes according to my calculations, the new traits will imprint themselves over your original traits, which are stored in your frontal lobes."

Sheen stared blankly at the boy genius. "Right. So…what the heck is that thing?"

Jimmy rolled his eyes and turned away to set the device. "Just stand there and look pretty, okay?"

"Oh, okay, cool." He missed the sarcasm in the other boy's voice.

Jimmy was about to initiate the modification when he remembered that Sheen never specifically said which personality traits he wanted. He put his device on pause mode, and turned back to see his strange friend striking a dramatic pose.

_He's going to make a great runway model someday. _Jimmy thought with a grin. "Pardon me, Mr. GQ, but which personality traits do you want?"

Sheen ignored the nickname and thought hard for a minute. Libby's words, though they still stung him, could actually be of some help now. _Let's see. She said I was immature, hyper, and weird, so I guess I should become the opposites of those. Mature, calm, and normal. Man, this is so not me…but Libby's worth it, so I don't really have a choice. _He set his jaw before meeting Jimmy's eyes again.

"Well?"

"I want to be mature, calm, and...normal." he stated firmly, although his right eye twitched on the word _normal_.

Jimmy's eyes grew wide at the boy's choice to become normal, but he programmed the necessary data into the Alterna-tron without another word and switched it into operational mode. "Are you ready?"

Sheen closed his dark eyes and drew a long, deep breath. "As I'll ever be…"

The young genius took that as a yes and proceeded to wave the Alterna-tron back and forth vertically across the top of Sheen's skull. After about a minute, Jimmy changed direction and dragged it slowly across Sheen's forehead, lightly touching each temple in turn. Jimmy finally switched off the gadget after another moment, set it down on a shelf, and turned back to look at his friend.

Sheen had been completely silent the entire time. He remained standing still with his eyes closed, prompting Jimmy to wonder why he hadn't opened them yet.

"Sheen? How are you feeling?"

No response. Jimmy grew concerned as the seconds ticked by. He shook Sheen's shoulder to make him snap out of his trance-like state. Much to his relief, the tall boy finally began to stir.

"Ugh..." he grunted, rubbing at his eyes.

"Jeez, Sheen, you scared me for a second there. Everything all right?" breathed Jimmy.

"Huh?"

"Do you feel any different?"

Sheen stared at Jimmy unblinkingly, before he collapsed into an unconscious heap on the laboratory floor.

"SHEEN!"

* * *

Much love to Tygrressatheart, my best buddy and beta reader. Reviews are always appreciated.


	4. The New Sheen?

For those of you who may be wondering, I decided to combine chapters 4 and 5 because chapter 4 was originally very short. Also, Sheen's grandmother doesn't speak English, so the translations of everything she says are in parentheses.

* * *

"SHEEN! Wake up! Sheen, come on, you gotta snap out of it!"

Jimmy was frantic, to say the least, when he saw one of his two best friends pass out cold on the floor of his underground laboratory. The poor boy genius panicked like there was no tomorrow. If he didn't do something soon, Sheen might not _have_ a tomorrow!

"Goddard, quick, help me!" With assistance from his faithful canine companion, Jimmy was able to hoist Sheen's limp body onto a metal table. "Oh man, what do I do? Goddard, options!"

The first suggestion in neon green lettering blazed across the pop-up screen on the robotic dog's chest: _Reverse the process._

"I can't, Goddard," Jimmy sighed. "I didn't design the Alterna-tron with a trait reversal feature."

The screen quickly changed for the next suggestion: _Revive him with one of your other inventions._

"Negative. If I do anything else to his brain right now, I could _kill_ him!" cried the desperate boy, glancing over at Sheen. He still wasn't moving.

Another screen change and a flash of neon green: _Pray._

Jimmy considered this for a moment. "Couldn't hurt. Okay, um…God? If you make Sheen wake up, I swear I'll never _ever_ tamper with anyone else's brain for the rest of my life!"

Not three seconds had passed when a low groan could be heard coming from the table. Sheen stirred and slowly opened his eyes, blinking rapidly against the lab's bright fluorescent lighting. Jimmy released the breath he didn't even know he'd been holding, and looked up at the ceiling in awe. "Whoa…you're good."

He rushed over to the metal table where his newly awakened friend was now sitting upright and gazing around the lab with an odd look on his face. "Sheen, you scared me half to death! Are you okay? I'm really sorry, there's no way I could've anticipated something like this happening! Well, maybe if I had run a few more preliminary tests to make sure if—"

"James, calm down. I am perfectly fine and you really should stop rambling. It's unbecoming to a young gentleman of your intellectual stature," said Sheen coolly.

Jimmy froze and stared at the black-haired boy. "Did…did you just call me _James_?"

"Well, that _is_ your name, isn't it?" he replied in a somewhat condescending tone.

"Yeah, but my mom's the only one who calls me that, and only when she's mad. Are you sure you're feeling okay, Sheen?" said Jimmy hesitantly.

"Once again, I am fine. Perhaps you should allow others to call you by your rightful name as well. Honestly, a nickname like 'Jimmy' is a bit childish, don't you think?"

Jimmy frowned. "I'm eleven, so technically, I _am_ still a child. Besides, I happen to like my nickname."

"I see. Well, this has been quite entertaining, but if you don't mind, I'll be going now." Sheen moved to get off the table, but Jimmy placed a hand on his arm to stop him.

"What are you talking about? I have to see if there's any way to get you back to normal."

Sheen scoffed. "Don't you get it, James? I _am_ normal now. There's nothing you need to do. Unless of course, you can get me home faster so I can change out of these ridiculous clothes."

"W-what?" Jimmy stammered. "You're wearing your favorite Ultralord shirt, black jeans, and high-top sneakers, just like you do every day. What's wrong with that?"

"Those are the weird, immature, hyperactive Sheen's favorites. The mature, calm, _normal_ Sheen does not wear such juvenile things as Ultralord T-shirts and—" He checked inside his pants and grimaced. "—glow-in-the-dark underwear."

Jimmy's jaw nearly hit the floor. The Sheen he knew would _never_ turn down anything that had to do with Ultralord, let alone call him juvenile! There was definitely something wrong here. "Okay, I don't think this was such a good idea, Sheen. You should lie down and let Goddard scan your vital signs."

The taller boy rolled his eyes and slid gracefully to the floor. "I told you already, James, I'm fine. By the way, I do appreciate everything you've done. I feel like a new man," he said, shaking Jimmy's hand in a businesslike manner. "Now if you'll excuse me, I should be heading home for dinner." He turned and left without another word.

Jimmy was stunned. What in the name of Einstein's ghost was going on here? It seemed as though the experiment had been a success with the exception of Sheen's temporary loss of consciousness. It was exactly what he had asked Jimmy to do for him, but still…a mature, indifferent, non-Ultralord-obsessing Sheen just didn't seem right. The young genius turned to his robotic dog with a sigh. "I don't know about you, boy, but I have a bad feeling about this."

* * *

The sun shone brilliantly the next morning as Jimmy strolled outside after breakfast. He was still worried about the possible side-effects Sheen's transformation might have caused, but there wasn't much he could do for the time being. He decided to take a walk to clear his mind. Stepping off his front porch, he got an all-too-familiar warm feeling in his chest when he noticed that Cindy appeared to be coming back from walking her dog Humphrey.

_She looks happy. Maybe I can actually talk to her while she's in a good mood, _he thought, making his stride across the street as casual as possible. He cleared his throat as he approached her. "Morning, Cindy."

The blonde turned at her name. "Oh, um, good morning, Neutron. What are you doing out so early?" She raised an eyebrow as she released her dog from his leash to allow him back into the yard. "Don't you usually have an experiment to endanger the town with by now?"

Jimmy rolled his eyes at her subtle teasing. "Funny. Surprisingly enough, I decided to abandon the lab for a while and get some fresh air. That all right with you?"

"Fine by me. It's a free country."

"Coming back from walking Humphrey?"

"Gosh, Neutron, you give new meaning to the word 'genius'."

Jimmy checked his watch, smirking slightly. "Not even 8:00 yet and I've already been burned twice. That's gotta be a new record."

"Sorry. I know ever since we became 'friends' or whatever, I was supposed to calm down with the insults, but it's _hard_."

"No need to apologize. You wouldn't be Cindy without the sarcasm, and besides, I like you fine the way you are…" blurted Jimmy without thinking. His face burned red about two seconds after realizing what he'd just said. "Uh…so anyway, I guess I'll be going now. I wouldn't want to interrupt any plans you might have had, so I'll just—"

"No!" Cindy shouted, then blushed as she caught herself. "I mean…no, wait. I didn't really walk Humphrey for all that long this morning, and I could still use a little time outdoors before I go inside and do anything." She fingered the hem of her green tank top, glancing at Jimmy.

Hoping he'd interpreted this signal correctly, the young genius drew a deep breath. "Do you want to take a walk with me, Cindy?" He winced, fully expecting a barrage of insults and yelling. What he didn't expect was a warm hand slipping into his and a soft smile gracing the blonde girl's face.

"I'd like that, Jimmy."

His blue eyes lit up. "Did you just call me by my _first name_?"

"Yep."

Jimmy grinned. They headed off to nowhere in particular, although they would probably end up at the Candy Bar with the rest of the group later that afternoon. For that moment though, they were the only two people in the world.

* * *

That same morning, at the Estevez household, things were completely normal…which, in turn, was really weird. Sheen had risen at 6:00 a.m., made his bed, showered, ironed his clothes, taken out the trash, fed the cat, made coffee, read the business section of the newspaper, _and_ was cooking breakfast before his father had even come downstairs.

Miguel Estevez wandered sleepily into the kitchen to find his son zipping around doing ten things at once.

"_Mijo_, where's the fire? And what are you doing up so early on a Sunday?"

"I'm making breakfast, Father. A man needs his energy, you know."

How a twelve-year-old suddenly became a man, Miguel would never know. He was also curious as to why Sheen had suddenly started calling him 'Father' instead of 'Dad', and also why he was dressed in a plain gray T-shirt and black sweatpants instead of his usual green Ultralord pajamas. However, seeing as the grandfather clock in the hall had only just struck seven o'clock, he settled for blaming the boy's odd behavior on hormones. Sniffing the air, he smiled in recognition. "_Huevos rancheros,_ huh?"

Sheen nodded curtly, loading three plates with the spicy delicacies. "Naturally, Father. Would you happen to know if Grandmother has woken up yet? I'll bring her plate up to her after we're finished."

The burly man raised an eyebrow, curiosity slightly overpowering his fatigue. "Why so formal, _mijo_? Are you practicing for something?"

"No, Father. I just feel like being more mature, that's all."

_Definitely hormones…_Miguel thought before digging in. He sighed inwardly at the taste; Sheen had his late mother's talent for cooking. He glanced at his only son fondly, who had just sat down to his own plate after placing his grandmother's in the microwave to keep warm.

They sat and ate in companionable silence for the next ten minutes, punctuated only by the birds chirping outside the window, and the cat purring from her place near Sheen's feet. Soon enough, Miguel rose, put his plate in the sink, and clapped a hand amiably on his son's shoulder. "Thanks for breakfast, Sheen, but I have to get going. The new shopping center isn't going to build itself." He was the foreman of the town's construction company, and they'd just been assigned a new project downtown.

Sheen merely nodded again, mouth full. He watched his father leave, before putting his own plate in the sink to be washed later. Grabbing his grandmother's plate out of the microwave, he found a serving tray next to the toaster and walked carefully upstairs.

Belen Estevez hadn't been able to walk much over the past year, due to arthritis in her knees. Her eyesight was dim as well, but she could smell the delicious breakfast her grandson had made before he even got to the end of the hallway.

"_Gracias, Juarerra,_" (Thank you, Juarerra.) she said croakily, having just woken up.

Sheen rolled his eyes inwardly at her long-standing preference of calling him by his middle name, but nevertheless arranged the tray across her lap and gently helped her sit up to eat. "_Siempre, abuela._" (Anytime, Grandmother.)

The old woman raised an eyebrow and looked at him. Rarely did Sheen ever leave off the affectionate suffix "-ita" when addressing her, especially in the morning, when she was used to a big hug and Sheen's ramblings about what he had planned for the day. "_¿Es algo mal?_" (Is something wrong?)

"_No, nada. ¿Por qué usted pide?_" (No, nothing. Why do you ask?)

"_Se pareces diferente hoy. ¿Se siente bien?_" (You seem different today. Are you feeling all right?) she asked, misty eyes crinkling in concern.

"_Sí, estoy bien._" (Yes, I'm fine.)

"_¿Estás seguro?_" (Are you sure?)

"_Sí. Debe comer antes de que consiga frío, abuela._" (Yes. You should eat before it gets cold, Grandmother.) Sheen replied, slightly impatient.

She waved a hand dismissively, before taking a bite. "_Sí, sí, yo sé. ¿Por qué estás tan formal hoy?_" (Yes, yes, I know. Why are you so formal today?)

The boy shrugged nonchalantly, glancing at his watch. "_Pienso que es el tiempo para mí de comenzar a actuar más maduro._" (I just think it's time for me to start acting more mature.)

"_No te apures para ser un hombre, mijo._ _Goce de su joventud para mientras puedes._" (Don't rush to become a man, my child. Enjoy your youth for as long as you can.)

"_Sí, abuela._ _Llámeme por favor cuando le acaban así que puedo llevar la bandeja abajo a la cocina._" (Yes, Grandmother. Please call me when you're finished so I can take the tray down to the kitchen.) He patted her arm quickly, before leaving to get dressed.

The old woman gazed at her grandson's retreating back with a sad smile, shaking her head before returning to the food in front of her.

* * *

Much love to Tygrressatheart, my best buddy and beta reader. Reviews are always appreciated.


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